The
hugely successful 'Godzilla' series is based on an an original story credited
to writer Shigeru Kayama. The first 'Godzilla' film was made in 1954,
the screenplay being co-written by Ishiro Honda and Takeo Murata, and
the 400ft-tall dinosaur with nuclear halitosis was still going strong
well into the nineties! By the way, 'Godzilla' is not a name but a species,
as are many other of what appear to be names in the titles. The first
two films, 'Gojira' and 'Gigantis', were shot in black and white but all
subsequent productions were made in colour.

Originally produced by the Japanese film company Toho with the expertise
of director Ishiro Honda, Kaiju Eiga ( monster movie ) participants can
essentially be briefly described as giant monsters and mechanical constructions
who either try to destroy the world or save it depending on whether they
are 'goodies' or 'baddies'. On the way, they manage to stomp models of
various Japanese cities into rubble causing more than a little distress
to the local human population. In later films it is not quite so straightforward
as that because some of them changed sides from film to film. Not only
is that a bit confusing but each film has anything up to a dozen or so
alternative titles, sometimes in duplication of other productions, and
the translation and spelling of their 'names' changes as well. Check my
monster A to Z or have a look at the film listings and you'll see what
I mean!

Although
Toho were the original creators of the Kaiju Eiga genre, by the early
Sixties quite a few Japanese film companies had climbed on the bandwagon
with their own monster creations, most notably the childrens film studio
Daiei with 'Gamera', but also Nikkatsu with 'Gappa', Shochiku with 'Guilala'.
The Shin Toho studios also produced some 'monsters' which appeared in
their 'Supergiant' series but these are not generally considered to
be true Kaiju Eiga. The destructive violence was massive but this was
generally only as a result of combat between themselves. Humans only
suffered as a by-product of the demolition and were not subjected to
individual physical violence.

The monsters were mostly people in rubber suits - the first 'Godzilla'
was actually Tomoyuki Tanaka, the producer of the film - were virtually
all endowed with a male persona and all of an amphibian nature until
'Gappa' in 1967. A notable exception to this was 'Mothra' which was
a giant female moth and a construction manipulated by wires, similar
to a marionette.
The storylines mostly tend to go like this: Giant 'monster', one or
more, sometimes with alien 'help' threatens mankind's existence. Scientists
can do nothing to stop it and run around like headless chickens. The
military are worse than useless as tanks and stuff just annoy it. Another
giant 'monster' puts down its pipe and slippers and comes to the rescue,
eventually saving the world after a titanic battle during which, in
most cases, poor old Tokyo ( or Japan in general ) gets pretty well
levelled. Still with me?

So far as I have been able to make out, this is a list of all the films
that fall within that general brief. I have only given a couple of the
most often-quoted titles for each film and in some cases a brief description
of what ( I think ) it is about. The years are suspect as well, but
that seems to be a standard problem in the film review area. There is
sometimes a differential between production and release years and also
between the years of release in its native country and the U.K. or U.S.A.
I believe most of the years quoted are original release dates.

The first 'Godzilla' film was bought by Joseph E. Levine who edited
out some of the original scenes and inserted newly-shot footage by Terry
Morse, featuring the actor Raymond Burr, into the film to make it more
attractive to the American market. The modified version was released
in the U.S.A. in 1956. This practice became fairly widespread with 'foreign'
films during the Sixties. The Sixties films obviously fit in with my
Science Fiction film list but, as some of them tend to be part of a
running series, I thought I might as well separate them and try to give
you the lot.

No doubt this will generate some email comment but I don't really want
to spend too much more time on it - only if there are any absolutely
howling errors (which, looking at it more closely, seems quite likely).
Please let me know - I'm
sure you will anyway!

A 400ft tall dinosaur is awoken from seabed 'hibernation' by atomic
tests. Emerging from the sea it displays its displeasure by proceeding
to flatten Japan. It is eventually lured back into the water where it
is subdued by Dr. Serizawa's 'oxygen destroyer' which removes all the
oxygen from the surrounding seawater. A modified version of the film
lasting 98 minutes and with extra footage starring American actor Raymond
Burr was released in the U.S. in 1956.

An atomic explosion awakes two monsters - Gigantis ( a Godzilla ) and
Anguirus - who are discovered fighting each other on a remote island.
Gigantis triumphs and heads towards Tokyo, demolishing Osaka en route.
He is eventually buried under an avalanche of ice precipitated by military
forces on a snow-covered island. A modified version of the film was
directed by Hugo Grimaldi and produced by Paul Schreibman for release
in the U.S. in 1959.

This was the first Kaiju Eiga film to be made in colour and featured
a giant reptile able to fly at supersonic speeds, the ensuing shock
waves causing immense damage. It hatches deep in a coalmine and emerges
to consume a swarm of Miganuron, giant dragonflies. Rodan finds a mate
and they eventually build a nest on the dormant volcano Mount Aso where
new eggs are laid. This proves to be a major error of judgement when
a subsequent eruption initiated by military missiles incinerates the
brood and their parents. A version of the film with American voice-over
by David Duncan was released in the U.S. with 5 minutes cut from the
original length.

Not, strictly speaking, a pure Kaiju Eiga film this was a forerunner
for similar storylines to follow. Aliens called Mysterians attempt to
invade Earth, starting in Japan, with the help of their giant robot
bird Mogella which shoots death rays from its eyes. The aliens' planet
had been destroyed and they needed to mate with Earth women in order
for their race to survive. Mogella is eventually destroyed as it attempts
to cross a collapsing bridge following which the aliens admit defeat
and depart, no doubt contemplating the folly of building a robot bird
that couldn't fly. The film was re-released cut to 85mins.You
Tube

The U.S. navy under the local control of Commander Bradley are carrying
out chemical experiments on water desalination which unwittingly disturb
the siesta of a giant reptilian creature. It decides to march towards
Tokyo to give it a piece of its mind and, in the process, tramples all
over the island where Bradley and his wife are carrying out their experiments.
The beast is immune to military weapons but eventually succumbs to a
cocktail of poisonous chemicals fired into its underbelly. A U.S. voice-over
version produced by Jerry A. Baerwitz was released in 1961 drastically
cut and re-edited to 70 minutes including the extra scenes featuring
American actor Myron Healey.